After Australia dared last spring to call for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus, China began quietly blocking one import after another from Australia — coal, wine, barley and cotton — in violation of free-trade norms. Then this month, with no clear explanation, China left $3 million worth of Australian rock lobsters dying […]
SINGAPORE – More piracy cases have been reported in the Singapore Strait in 2020 than in the whole of last year. Two more incidents last week took the total this year to 33, surpassing the 31 reported in 2019. A special report to alert the shipping industry was released on Monday (Nov 23) by the […]
SINGAPORE – Journalists have a key role to play in fighting present and future pandemics, particularly in tackling the veritable flood of information – called an “infodemic” – they bring along, said Dr Sylvie Briand, director of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Global Infectious Hazard Preparedness department, on Monday (Nov 23). “Epidemics bring a lot […]
KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian glove maker Top Glove will suspend operations in 28 of its factories in Klang, in Selangor, after more than a thousand employees tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday (Nov 23). Announcing this, Senior Minister (Security cluster) Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the closure would allow for the testing and quarantining of workers […]
SINGAPORE – The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) has successfully hosted the second Singapore-India-Thailand Maritime Exercise (Sitmex). In a statement on Monday (Nov 23), the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) said the exercise took place from Saturday to Sunday in the Andaman Sea. A total of five vessels were involved, including RSN’s Formidable-class frigate RSS Intrepid […]
SINGAPORE – A piano teacher with autism who molested his five-year-old student was sentenced to three years’ probation on Monday (Nov 23). In sentencing, the High Court judge said he had considered the fact that the man, now 22, would suffer disproportionately in prison because of his autism spectrum disorder, among other factors such as […]
A controversial RM43 billion (S$14.1 billion) port project off the coast of Melaka that was touted as the largest in the region when ready – overtaking Singapore’s – has been scrapped by the state government. The Melaka government said in a letter dated last Monday that the developer of the Melaka Gateway project had failed […]
HONG KONG (BLOOMBERG) – The shelving of the Hong Kong-Singapore travel bubble shows just how delicate the process of reopening borders is – even for places that have largely contained the coronavirus. The cities’ virus outbreaks are far less intense than in places such as the US and Europe, but a recent uptick in cases […]
SINGAPORE – Come results time next year, children who took their Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) will no longer see a T-score figure on their slips. Instead, they will be scored using eight bands known as Achievement Levels (AL). AL 1 will be the best level and AL 8 will be the lowest. The pupil’s […]
SINGAPORE – Come results time next year, children who took their Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) will no longer see a T-score figure on their slips. Instead, they will be scored using eight bands known as Achievement Levels (AL). AL 1 will be the best level and AL 8 will be the lowest. The pupil’s […]